WALSALL manager Chris Hutchings believes his four-pronged strike armoury contains a varied threat that will keep League One defences guessing this season.

Darren Byfield and Troy Deeney are the men in possession of the forward shirts at the moment and their growing understanding was illustrated by the former’s smart finish from the latter’s assist in the 2-0 win over Stockport last Saturday.

But waiting for another chance in the starting XI are Sam Parkin and Alex Nicholls who provide options of height and pace respectively.

And as the Saddlers prepare to try to record a fourth successive victory, at Brentford on Saturday, Hutchings is happy with the array of firepower at his disposal.

“Parkin is a big target man who leads the play very well,” the manager said.

“Deeney is a workhorse who can score goals, Byfield is very fast and elusive and so is Alex Nicholls.

“So we have four decent strikers at this level which is very important because it means if one or two aren’t doing the business in a particular game we have options to change things round.

“At the moment you look at our bench and you think it’s not too bad.

‘‘On occasions in the past we have had young boys on the bench and when that’s the case and you are looking to make a change it is very difficult.”

Whoever plays up front, it is always a big help to them to have a forceful and productive central midfield pairing behind. Filling that role for Walsall at the moment are Mark Bradley and Dwayne Mattis and Hutchings sees signs of promise in the alliance of the Welsh Under-21 international alongside the more experienced Yorkshireman.

“Bradley did well against Stockport,” the manager said.

“He gave away a couple of free-kicks but I think that was his enthusiasm to win tackles. He was on the front foot and influential.

“You have to earn the right to play your football and we expect our midfielders to battle and compete.

‘‘We know Bradley’s got a range of passing, short and long. He just maybe needs to quicken up a bit and he did that against Stockport when he and Dwayne really rolled their sleeves up and had a go at it.”